Glass installation advice needed

[MiraclePieCo]

I need to put the glass in the two rear barn doors of my panel truck. I've never done a glass installation, but I'll bet lots of you guys have. Can anyone direct me to a thread on how to do it? The panes are slightly curved -will the rope method work? Someone advised me to use the one-piece gaskets, but they're $105 vs $25 for the bulk roll, so I'll probably go the cheap route.

[crossfire84]

Cheap will have you doing it over, trust me I know.

[nvrdone]

id find a good old school glass shop in your area & have them do it. that's lots cheaper than having a broken piece of glass. I learned that the hard way …...

[joedoh]

the rope method works with curved glass, use nylon cord and a little bit of windex in the channel. I have done windshields alone because the angle lets you lay it on the channel safely, but smaller glass I would be worried about dropping it without an extra hand.

Originally Posted by crossfire84

Cheap will have you doing it over, trust me I know.

well, at least he will have a whole roll to try again

[NeoJuice]

Might find some tips on the following youtube page.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Precision194/videos

There are a couple of 47-54 videos on there.

[1952ssr]

My advise is buy the rope, ball tool and plastic stick from LMC. Makes things easier trust me, learned the hard way. Also I might add where you buy your gaskets makes a difference. The windshield gasket I used from Truck Parts seemed really bulky and over sized causing me to break one side and only got the other side half in after 2 hours working one side then the other, I ordered one from LMC with the tools and took less that 30 minutes to install.

[mongocanfly]

After watching the pros break 5 windshields in my truck I was glad I only had to pay for one...they had to eat the rest...I will gladly pay the man..

[dsraven]

yeah, two small back windows will likely be cheap to have installed by a pro. drop it off, go for a coffee, by the time youre done they will be too.

[mr48chev]

If you can't take it to a glass shop i'd be finding out what glass shop worker in town takes on side jobs. I've put my own glass in a few times but it is way down low on the list of things i want to do on my rig.

[dsraven]

if you're gonna try to do it yourself, make sure the rubber is nice and soft/pliable to allow maximum flexibility around the glass. use some dish soap in the rubber groove as a lubricant and this can be freshened up with a spray bottle of water should it start to dry up, install the rope in the groove of the rubber, lay the glass in and have a helper keep it from falling out. have helper apply some light pressure on the glass in a uniform pattern, so there is no point pressure anywhere, to press it against the rubber, start pulling the rope and ensure it allows the glass to slip into the groove in the rubber and the rubber moves out of the way of the glass properly as you pull the rope. if it looks suspect at all, stop pulling the rope, use a plastic pry tool, like one for removing body trim etc, to assist with the rubber so it stays on the proper side of the glass but remember to be carefull about point pressure on any single spot on the glass. use some pressure on the glass to push the glass down into the bed of the groove in the rubber, this will make more room on the opposite side of the glass so it will fit in easier. remember, don't push hard on the glass in any one spot, pressure on the entire piece of glass is best, and, if pushing on the glass make sure the glass isn't hung up on a high spot or the high spot will become a point pressure area and that will crack the glass at the high point.
again, try the pro shop, they do this stuff all the time especially a shop that does industrial equipment glass or farm implement glass. automotive glass places these days usually use a bed of urethane that the window simply sits in until the urethane hardens. the glass shops that do equipment will know more about the style of rubber that these old trucks use.